Gorges, Darche elaborate on latest in labour stalemate

Canadiens’ defenceman Josh Gorges and former Habs forward Mathieu Darche were on a 25-minute NHLPA teleconference Monday afternoon to put some flesh on the bones of the union’s latest moves to get CBA talks moving with the NHL, stalled since last week with a Sept. 15 deadline for a lockout looming.

In summary, Gorges said the players want to play, and he said there’s nothing to prevent that from happening even should the union and the league not have a new CBA in place by Saturday.

Nothing Earth-shattering in the 25-minute teleconference, but Gorges said the NHLPA’s possible involvement of the Quebec Labour Board, hoping the body would rule a lockout of Canadiens players illegal in Quebec, is not being done to get the Habs their paycheques. Rather, it’s a bid to jumpstart stalled talks with the NHL.

Gorges said he believes that Canadiens coaches would go along with a favourable ruling from the QLB, if one came, and work on ice with the team in training. That’s not even on the horizon for now, however, with an NHL board of governors meeting scheduled in New York this week and two meetings of different NHLPA groups in the same city.

65 Comments

An associate of mine who sis in law is friends with an exec for Sens (I know – sounds like a stretch) says the NHL owners plan to start up in January. Take it for what it’s worth….which isn’t much. But if you believe, the owners have a plan. Hell, they aint stupid…..they know a profit-loss projection.

i dont know any gm or friends of gm’s or hookers that maybe banged a dude pretending to be a gm, but some dude at work told me that some radio frequency bounced off a satellite from an ipad in the joe louis arena to his black berry. supposedly it was some kind of a recording saying something about santa and bettman and the saskatchewan dogsleders which will be the new phoenix team so based off that, i say, hockey for christmas! not that starting the regular season after everyones favourite jr tournament is a smart idea either…. but let’s not debate that as i hear you are a master debater

For those who grew up in the Roy era, I feel bad for you. The NHL has always been been controlled by the Owners, don’t believe it will ever be different…..actually the PA progressiveness (is that a word?) Has caused league disruptions. I don’t expect the PA to back down but the league isn’t as good as it once was. It used to be about a sport…..now it’s all about equity. I won’t debate if that is good or not, but I know the NHL pretty much sucks compared to pre equal lawyers.

I think Roy winning the cup was a greater feat than Gretzky and Lemieux, those 2 had stacked teams, and like Ive said before, Lemieux could not win anything until Paul Coffey came to town.
To me Roy is the best “money-player” Ive seen in hockey, and should be considered one of the top 3 habs of all-time also.

[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.

You have all read me saying many times on here, I love this sport. Further, I love the Habs and have enjoyed watching them for over 30 years.

What I think these clowns don’t seem to understand is that most people don’t even know there is an NHL impasse or impending lockout. And those folks, who are the majority, won’t know until they ask “who won the cup this year” next July.

I was speaking to my good friend, Milt Dunno, the other night and he made a good point while I was inserting a miniature bottle inside a small replica of a ship. He said we fans — or was it wee fans? — anyway he said everyone was being small-minded moaning and groaning about millionaires and billionaires acting like aire-heads in this contract dispute and threatening to deprive us of our hockey this winter, as if we’ll be the only ones affected by it all. He reminded me about all the little people who will be hurt by a lockout, the forgotten folks whose livelihoods depend on hockey being played, unemployable guys like PJ Stock and Mike Milbury, and senior citizens like Bob Cole and Don Cherry who must get by on fixed incomes, and the mentally unhinged, like Jack Edwards, who relies on fixed outcomes.
What’s to happen to them? he asked, and I’m ashamed to say I didn’t have an answer.
Well, at least one that I can repeat here.

saddest part about this lockout is that it did not have to happen.
the nhl and nhlpa had plenty of time, yet there was no urgency from the side of the NHLPA to get anything done.
furthermore..there is no healthy business where the employees get 57% of the revenue. Although I don’t think bettman actually was serious with the 43%, both parties know it will settle around 50% a side.
the NHLPA really needs to understand that getting over 50% of revenue shares is ridiculous, especially since all thier money is guaranteed the second they put pen to paper (unlike football)
——————
The 2010-11 Stanley Cup was not won, but given

You’re right in saying that the lockout didn’t have to happen. There was plenty of time to reach an agreement had the will been there. But from the beginning, I’ve had the sense that the owners intended the lockout to happen, that the lockout was not a last resort for them but rather their weapon of choice. Last time round, they locked the players out for an entire season, then rammed a deal down the throats of a divided NHLPA. They’re aiming to do the same this time. Their first offer was a declaration of war; and, since then, the two sides have been basically staring each other down. Even now, there seems little will on either side to reach a settlement. This latest move by the players is either a PR move or a desperate gamble, but I doubt it will have much effect. On the other hand, I don’t see the players caving in. Eventually there’ll be a settlement, and it’ll probably be along the lines envisaged by both parties right from the start, with the players accepting somewhere around 50%. The only questions are how much of the season will be lost before this happens, and how the fans will react when hockey eventually returns.

the real head scratcher is that both parties know how this will end…why drag this out? i feel that the first hockey we will see will be around November or latest January.
no way is the NHL and NHLPA stupid enough to lose another season
——————
The 2010-11 Stanley Cup was not won, but given

It’s a head-scratcher all right. There seems no reason why the two sides can’t get into the negotiating room and hammer out a deal. Sit there until it’s done. I think they both know roughly what shape the deal is going to take. Why are they all so ready to sacrifice all or part of the season? The players want to play, the owners want to make money. Why can’t they just get on with it?

The real head scratcher is where was all this player impetus to start negotiations 365 days ago?

Instead of having Donald Fehr’s mobile love-ins, the players should have been bargaining so there was sufficient time to go through all the permutations and combinations to everyone’s satisfaction!

———————————————————————-
What does the Commissioner of the NHL do?

In short, a league commissioner is the action man for the Board of Governors.

They tell him what they want done and he works to make it happen through his subordinates while making sure that individual franchises play by the rules.

******** Translated if you haven’t won the Stanley Cup in 40 years your NHL team is becoming irrelevant in a sports mad city long behind MLB, NFL and NBA teams, you just tell the commissioner(who you gave a new contract at 7 plus million per) to make it happen and the rules are bent sufficiently to action the command.

Any business healthy or otherwise cannot exist with a profit and loss statement showing people costs at 57% of revenue minimum.

Particularly when the player cost is locked in beyond the point of being able to perform at expected levels.

It doesn’t work! ie. Scott Gomez!

———————————————————————-
What does the Commissioner of the NHL do?

In short, a league commissioner is the action man for the Board of Governors.

They tell him what they want done and he works to make it happen through his subordinates while making sure that individual franchises play by the rules.

******** Translated if you haven’t won the Stanley Cup in 40 years your NHL team is becoming irrelevant in a sports mad city long behind MLB, NFL and NBA teams, you just tell the commissioner(who you gave a new contract at 7 plus million per) to make it happen and the rules are bent sufficiently to action the command.

This according to CBS sports fantasy hockey website. Take it for what is worth as the site is usually garbage for information for hockey.

P.K. Subban, D MON

News: P.K. Subban is close to agreeing to a three-year, $12 million deal with the Canadiens, sportsnet.ca reports.

Analysis: The deal is in the final stages of being completed as the Canadiens work to lock up the 23-year-old defenseman before the old collective bargaining agreement expires Sept. 15. It was suggested earlier that P.K. Subban was pursuing a five-year deal, but it appears he may have changed his stance. He has recorded 76 points in his two full seasons with the team

Burkie is not at all happy about ESPN’s opinion of the Leafs:
“I don’t think ESPN knows a single thing about hockey. I think their hockey coverage stinks. I don’t think they know anything about Canada. I don’t think they know anything about hockey.”
Telio
The greatest Canadiens and NHL news-site: http://teliopost.com/
Twitter: @teliopost

Pathetic act of desperation on the part of the NHLPA. Dudes don’t make me start siding with ownership. That being said, I issue a stern warning to both sides. This is 3 lock-outs in 20 years where there was never one prior. As a hockey fan of 40 years I am unequivocally stating that if there is another work stoppage this season, when NHL hockey does come back I won’t be. I am hoping many more fans do the same. I won’t buy merchandize. I’ll check out NHL sponsors and boycott them. I won’t buy tickets to games either. I will however still support Canadian hockey at every level. The NHL is sucking any ways and has been in steady entetainment decline since Sun Belt became a catch phrase. Get this done fast dummies. A collective yawn and sigh is your biggest enemy.

In short, a league commissioner is the action man for the Board of Governors.

They tell him what they want done and he works to make it happen through his subordinates while making sure that individual franchises play by the rules.

******** Translated if you haven’t won the Stanley Cup in 40 years your NHL team is becoming irrelevant in a sports mad city long behind MLB, NFL and NBA teams, you just tell the commissioner(who you gave a new contract at 7 plus million per) to make it happen and the rules are bent sufficiently to action the command.

Thats “Hockey Related Revenue” – which means its a narrow definition of the leagues actual revenues, and has been reduced somewhat by expenses already. The league actually had revenue closer to 3.7 billion if we take into account everything they brought in.

Same is true of the other sports as wll…. they all seem to want to define revenue in their CBAs as something different than what a traditional accountant would define revenue as.

In that each CBA is different, we are also comparing apples to bananas to oranges here.

And let’s not forget their disputing the HRR concerning revenues off the ice as well. There’s so much posturing and window dressing that a typical fan can’t begin to fathom the financials.
I’m so fed up of all this B.S.
I just want to sit in my recliner next to my two amigos, and watch a Habs game.
That’s all I want.
That and a Guinness on the arm rest.

Gorges and Darche two ponds in betman and fehr’s game of chess , but i thought Darche was a FA , so how can he do this and george thinks MT will be there giving him lessons while the other team are golfing , what a joke , i’m rollin another

So lets go to the deal Fehr got for baseball. A joke of a salary cap, teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers can spend as much as they want for players (this site would expolde if the Flyers ofered P.K. $8Mil. per season for 8 years or more) or go back to the old days where NHL teams could spend as much as they wanted on players.I remember all Canadian clubs crying because the “small market teams” could not afford to pay high salaries”). Unfortunatly the owners need someone to sve themselves from themselves and Bettman (love him, hate him) is it.Unfortunatly it’s going to be a while before we see hockey as Bettman-Fehr = no hockey.No salary cap Calgary, Edmonton,Ottawa (don’t even think of a team in Quebec city) are all toast. Most of U.S. owners have deeper pockets or won’t ice competitive teams.

I don’t think there’s any other player who could come back from two sets down when he lost those sets the way Djokovic did – the first in a tight tie-break, the second after rallying from a double break down. This might be the best tennis match I’ve ever seen.

Thank you for posting Dave. I guess Darche was there to speak to the French media. His English answer made him sound like an American Politician Just spat out talking points. “Its the owners locking US out”. We knew that. The question was what are the players doing to move the conversation forward. Maybe it’s my anti Darche bias showing.
Josh on the other hand came across as genuine and authentic in his responded. I’fe avoided chiding sides between billionaires or millionaires here and will continue to do so. I just root for anything that will drive the two sides to an agreement.

The owners have been in some sort of collusion to keep player salaries down since they imposed a $5,000 salary cap for the 1910-11 season.

If there is a lockout, here is an intersting idea for a fan. Go to your local library and ask them to get books such as Net Worth, Gross Misconduct, The Power of Two and any other they can find on NHL labour relations. It’s an eye opener.